Political news

• MPs debate whether Trump’s state visit should be cancelled – video

  20-02-2017 22:37
  
  MPs debate in Westminster Hall on Monday on whether Donald Trump’s state visit should be revoked, after 1.8m sign a petition against it. Conservative MPs defend the decision to invite Trump, while opposition MPs criticise Trump arguing that the honour of a state visit was unmerited. The debate ended without MPs voting on whether the visit should go ahead and the debate will have no impact on the government’s plansMPs pour scorn on ‘racist and sexist’ Donald Trump in state
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Corbyn urges Labour MPs to rally behind party's campaign efforts

  20-02-2017 22:35
  
  Party leader tells colleagues forthcoming byelections in Labour-held seats of Stoke Central and Copeland are ‘on a knife-edge’ Jeremy Corbyn has told Labour MPs the two crucial byelections that will be held in Labour-held seats on Thursday are “on a knife-edge”. The party’s leader urged colleagues to throw themselves into the campaigns to stop Ukip’s leader Paul Nuttall from winning in Stoke-on-Trent Central and the Tories’ candidate Trudy Harrison from
  
  Read more

• Party lines drawn as MPs debate just how stupid Donald Trump really is

  20-02-2017 22:00
  
  Cultural property (armed conflicts) bill doesn’t get a look-in as presidential state visit debate draws the crowdsOutside in Westminster Square, several thousand people protested against the prime minister’s decision to offer President Trump a state visit; inside Westminster Hall, a few dozen MPs – rather more than were in the main chamber for the report stage of the cultural property (armed conflicts) bill – debated the two competing public petitions regarding the Donald
  
  Read more

• MPs pour scorn on 'racist and sexist' Donald Trump in state visit debate

  20-02-2017 21:57
  
  Parliament holds three-hour debate over whether US president’s invitation should be revoked after 1.8m sign petition against visitBritish MPs lined up on Monday to pour scorn on a “racist and sexist” Donald Trump, who they said should not be allowed to come to Britain for a state visit because of the risk it would embarrass the Queen.The US president was compared to a “petulant child” and had his intelligence questioned by MPs during a three-hour debate triggered af
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Peers prepare to push for Brexit bill changes despite PM's Lords appearance

  20-02-2017 21:40
  
  Theresa May’s decision to sit in the chamber during debate seen as a warning to those in the House where Tories do not hold a majoritySenior peers have indicated they will defy Theresa May by pushing for changes to the Brexit bill in the House of Lords, as the prime minister made a highly unusual appearance in the upper chamber to observe the first day of debate.
  Gus O’Donnell, the former Whitehall cabinet secretary, and Nicholas Macpherson, the ex-permanent secretary of the Treasury
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump: MPs clash over UK state visit

  20-02-2017 21:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MPs debate whether the trip should go ahead as anti-Trump protests take place outside Parliament.
  
  Read more

• VW says it did not mislead UK diesel customers

  20-02-2017 20:54
  Transport minister John Hayes calls carmaker’s claim ‘little short of ridiculous’
  
  Read more

• Martin Rowson on the NHS deficit – cartoon

  20-02-2017 20:53
  
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Online Giants Could Pay More Tax As Chancellor Takes Aim At 'Digital Economy' In Business Rates Row

  20-02-2017 20:45
  
  Online retailers such as Amazon could be forced to pay more in tax as the Chancellor today hinted at a wholesale reform of the business rates system.
  Addressing a meeting of Tory backbenchers in Parliament this evening, Philip Hammond sought to stave off a potential rebellion over the amount small businesses have to pay to the Treasury.
  Business groups and trade bodies have been up in arms over new rates set to come in from April, which will see many small firms paying dramatically more in taxes
  
  Read more

• Theresa May must take £115bn hint from Kraft Heinz's failed Unilever bid

  20-02-2017 20:33
  
  Warren Buffett and 3G were apparently surprised at hostility from Unilever’s board – but PM must use this bid as cue to form proper policy on takeoversWarren Buffett and his Brazilian private equity chums at 3G, the main players at Kraft Heinz, must process their cheese and beans on another planet. The US firm abandoned its £115bn bid for Unilever, we’re told, because it wasn’t expecting its proposal to receive such hostility from Unilever’s board and a few Br
  
  Read more

• Labour demands job guarantees for Vauxhall workers

  20-02-2017 20:31
  Business secretary tells MPs of ‘unbounded’ personal commitment to car plants
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump Defended Over Sexism And Racism By Tory MPs During UK State Visit Debate

  20-02-2017 20:30
  
  Donald Trump has found unlikely support from some British Conservative MPs, who defended the US President against charges of sexism and racism.
  MPs today debated whether Trump should be afforded the full pomp and ceremony of a UK state visit and an audience with the Queen, as was offered just days after his inauguration.
  It was prompted by a petition signed by 1.8 million people calling for Trump’s visit to be downgraded, and came as thousands protested against his arrival outside the gat
  
  Read more

• Theresa May peers over Lords’ shoulders on Brexit

  20-02-2017 20:26
  PM takes unusual step of watching upper house debate Article 50 bill in person
  
  Read more

• Britain’s MPs clash over state visit for Trump

  20-02-2017 20:17
  One predicts ‘total disaster’, another says it could avert world war three
  
  Read more

• MPs warn over child refugees sleeping rough after Dubs scheme closure

  20-02-2017 19:58
  
  Volunteers say decision to stop taking lone child refugees to UK and destruction of Calais camp has been a fillip to traffickersMPs have warned the Home Office that it cannot ignore the growing numbers of child refugees returning to sleep rough on the edges of Calais and Dunkirk after the closure of the so-called Dubs scheme, which gave lone children a safe route to asylum in the UK.Volunteers said the UK government’s decision to take no more lone child refugees from Europe had been a fill
  
  Read more

• Leavers’ concerns are not unfounded | Letters

  20-02-2017 19:35
  
  People who would like Britain to remain in the EU should not try, as Tony Blair now plans, to persuade those who voted leave last June that they made a mistake (Blair’s Brexit speech sparks Labour fury, 18 February). They should acknowledge that leavers have some well-founded concerns and should try to persuade our European partners to introduce the reforms that would overcome them.The UK is already experiencing rapid natural growth. According to the Office for National Statistics, on pres
  
  Read more

• MPs debate refusing Donald Trump a state visit to Britain - Politics live

  20-02-2017 19:20
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenNo 10 lobby briefing - SummaryGuardian/ICM poll shows Tories 18 points ahead of LabourOpening of the Lords debate on article 50 bill - Summary 6.20pm GMTThe Conservative MP Anne Main is speaking now. She says she does not know what the Queen thinks about the visit, but she assumes that the invitation was offered with the Queen’s consent.Main may not know what the Queen thinks about this all, but Private Eye, the Briti
  
  Read more

• You can escape the identity trap – but that freedom comes at a cost | Nesrine Malik

  20-02-2017 19:06
  
  It’s disheartening that even someone as resilient as Diane Abbott was hounded into defining herself in terms of race and genderDiane Abbott wrote a powerful article in these pages last week about the hatred she receives. Whatever one thinks of her politics, the veteran Labour MP has for decades been a fireball of public service. But her star has always been followed by a comet tail of toxic vapour. This personal abuse is at times snide and implied, at other times explicit, vicious and unpr
  
  Read more

• 'No deal' Brexit would mean £6bn in extra costs for UK exporters

  20-02-2017 19:00
  
  Guardian analysis shows falling back on WTO rules would mean steep bills for industries including fashion, agriculture, cars and ceramicsCrashing out of the European Union without a trade deal would saddle British exporters with more than £6bn a year of extra costs, according to analysis that reveals the limited options facing UK negotiators just weeks before Brexit talks start.Theresa May has insisted “no deal is better than a bad deal” when it comes to the terms of Britain&rs
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Corbyn Warns Stoke And Copeland 'On A Knife-Edge', Attacks The Media For New Huge Tory Poll Lead

  20-02-2017 18:58
  
  Jeremy Corbyn will try to rally Labour MPs ahead of two crunch by-elections – despite a new poll giving the Tories a huge lead over the Opposition.
  The Labour leader was set to address the weekly Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting with a plea to work for every vote in the Copeland and Stoke Central by-elections on Thursday.
  But as former Shadow Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy warned that Labour’s membership was “increasingly unrepresentative of the country as a whole”,
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Corbyn Tries To Rally Labour MPs For Copeland And Stoke Central - Despite Record Tory Poll Lead

  20-02-2017 18:58
  
  Jeremy Corbyn will try to rally Labour MPs ahead of two crunch by-elections – despite a new poll giving the Tories a huge lead over the Opposition.
  The Labour leader was set to address the weekly Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting with a plea to work for every vote in the Copeland and Stoke Central by-elections on Thursday.
  But as former Shadow Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy warned that Labour’s membership was “increasingly unrepresentative of the country as a whole”,
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump Protest Comes To Parliament Square As MPs Debate Petition Calling For No State Visit

  20-02-2017 18:39
  
  Hundreds of people descended on parliament on Monday in a colourful show of defiance against the impending state visit of US President Donald Trump.
  On the day MPs debated a 1.85m-strong petition against Trump’s planned June visit, chants of “Dump Trump, dump the special relationship,” rang out besides Westminster Hall, the historic setting for a once-mooted speech by the billionaire property tycoon and now leader of the free world.
  Journalist Owen Jones and Stop Trump UK, a co
  
  Read more

• 'No reason to fear' Vauxhall job losses, Clark says

  20-02-2017 18:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Takeover talks should not make Vauxhall workers worry about their jobs, the business secretary says.
  
  Read more

• Labour: 'Brexit means Brexit statement unwise'

  20-02-2017 18:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Labour leader in the Lords criticises the lack of government planning for Brexit.
  
  Read more

• William Hague Says Tony Blair's Hopes Of Blocking Brexit Will Cause 'Endless Conflict'

  20-02-2017 17:48
  
  William Hague has warned that overturning the result of the Brexit referendum would open up a “endless conflict” in British society, as he dismissed Tony Blair’s call for people to “rise up” against the result.
  The former foreign secretary, who now sits in the House of Lords, said today it was a “great error” for ‘Remain’ campaigners to try and refight the referendum.
  “Asking people to rise up to fight Brexit, which were the words a fe
  
  Read more

• Should Donald Trump be afforded a state visit to Britain? | Tulip Siddiq and Glyn Davies

  20-02-2017 17:44
  
  After Trump was invited to meet the Queen, 1.85m Britons signed a petition against the idea. As parliament debates the issue, two MPs go head-to-head Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Labour Party expels NI member for standing in election on different ticket

  20-02-2017 17:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Labour Party member in Northern Ireland is expelled for standing as a candidate on a different ticket in the assembly election.
  
  Read more

• Green paper warns on extra pensions regulation

  20-02-2017 17:22
  Ministers have faced appeals to embolden regulator following BHS collapse
  
  Read more

• Tory leader says peers should not 're-run' EU referendum

  20-02-2017 17:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Peers should not use the Brexit bill to "re-run" the referendum, the leader of the Lords says.
  
  Read more

• Brexit Britain must protect EU migrants' rights, say protesters – video

  20-02-2017 17:21
  
  As the House of Lords debates the article 50 bill on Monday, protesters from the pressure group One Day Without Us demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament to highlight the contribution of immigrants to the UK’s economy and society. They say EU migrants have been treated ‘appallingly’ since the Brexit referendum result and demand that their rights are upheldBrexit: Peers debate article 50 bill - Politics liveContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Council tax to rise while services cut, says LGA

  20-02-2017 17:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bin collections and libraries could be among services cut, despite council tax rises of up to 4.99%.
  
  Read more

• Theresa May in House of Lords as peers begin article 50 bill debate

  20-02-2017 17:11
  
  PM takes unusual decision to sit in on debate as Tory Lords leader Natalie Evans warns peers not to try to alter Brexit termsTheresa May took the highly unusual decision to watch the House of Lords begin debating the bill to start the process of leaving the EU, as her most senior minister in the upper chamber warned peers not to try to alter the terms of Brexit.The prime minister sat on the steps of the throne in the Lords for the opening of the debate, which is considering the Brexit bill to gi
  
  Read more

• Brexit bill: Theresa May doesn't want 'hold up' by peers

  20-02-2017 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Theresa May says she hopes peers will not delay the timetable to begin Britain's withdrawal from the EU.
  
  Read more

• Two Ukip chairmen in Merseyside quit over Hillsborough row

  20-02-2017 16:20
  
  Pair resign in protest at party’s handling of controversy around Paul Nuttall’s claim to have lost close friends in disasterTwo Ukip chairmen in Merseyside have resigned in protest at the “crass insensitivity” of the party’s handling of the controversy over Paul Nuttall’s claims about Hillsborough.Adam Heatherington and Stuart Monkcom handed in their resignations from the party this week after the Ukip leader’s admission last week that assertions on his
  
  Read more

• Winter pressure 'busts NHS budget'

  20-02-2017 15:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A deficit of £900m has been racked up by NHS trusts as they struggle to cope during the 'challenging winter'.
  
  Read more

• NHS trusts post 'unsustainable' £886m third-quarter deficit

  20-02-2017 15:49
  
  Shortfall in England, attributed to extra pressure on NHS over winter, is £300m over target for end of financial yearNHS trusts in England posted a deficit of £886m at the end of the third quarter, £300m more than the target for the end of this financial year. NHS Improvement (NHSI), which published the figures on Monday, predicts a year-end deficit of £750m-£850m, much higher than the £580m previously described as the highest figure the health service could a
  
  Read more

• Theresa May Warns House Of Lords Not To Frustrate 'What The British People Want' On Brexit

  20-02-2017 15:47
  
  Theresa May has issued a stark warning to the unelected House of Lords not to frustrate the British public’s decision to back Brexit.
  As peers started discussing the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, the Prime Minister said that she didn’t want “anyone holding up what the British people want”.
  The Lords has an anti-Tory majority and is threatening to defeat the Government with amendments to give unilateral rights to EU citizens in the UK and to give Parliament a vote
  
  Read more

• Theresa May Eyeballs Lords As She Warns Them To Deliver 'What The British People Want' On Brexit

  20-02-2017 15:47
  
  Theresa May “eyeballed” unelected peers today after she issued a stark warning to the House of Lords not to frustrate the British public’s decision to back Brexit.
  As the Lords started discussing the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, the Prime Minister said that she didn’t want “anyone holding up what the British people want”.
  The upper chamber has an anti-Tory majority and is threatening to amend the legislation to give unilateral rights to EU citizens i
  
  Read more

• 'You Remind Me Of The Nazis And Fascists My Grandad Fought' Stoke Voter Lets Rip At Ukip

  20-02-2017 15:41
  
  A voter in Stoke has left Ukip in no doubt what they think of the anti-EU party by posting a letter in their window.comparing them to Nazis.
  The resident of the property posted the open letter ahead of the by-election on Thursday, warning Ukip canvassers not to post “anymore of your nonsense through my door.”
  The author claimed their grandfather shot “Nazis and Fascists” during the war, and Ukip’s “gibberish” made them want to echo their ancestor’s
  
  Read more

• Article 50 bill: Lords 'highly likely' to pass amendment on EU citizens

  20-02-2017 15:39
  
  Lib Dems’ Dick Newby tells crowd at Westminster that Labour peers will also back the amendment on EU citizens’ rightsAn amendment to the article 50 bill guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit is highly likely to be passed in the House of Lords, the leader of Liberal Democrat peers has said. Dick Newby told about 500 EU citizens in Westminster that Labour peers would be supporting the amendment, which will be debated next week, though the party had indicated it
  
  Read more

• UKIP officials quit in Hillsborough row

  20-02-2017 15:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two party branch chairmen say comments about the disaster are "upsetting and intolerable".
  
  Read more

• British banks are go-betweens in global conflict. This can be stopped | George Clooney and John Prendergast

  20-02-2017 15:30
  
  High-level corruption and illicit trade in natural resources depend on banks across the EU. Putting financial pressure on them can help save livesAlmost a year ago, the UK government convened a global summit to commit to fighting corruption. The final communiqué from the governments involved summed up their historic intentions: “We want to send a clear signal to the corrupt that they will face consequences internationally. We want to make it harder for them to travel and do business
  
  Read more

• One Day Without Us Campaign Highlights Positive Impact Migrants Have On UK Economy

  20-02-2017 15:24
  
  Britain’s economy would lose £328 million in just one day if migrants stopped working, new figures have revealed as part of a campaign to demonstrate the positive impact of immigration.
  As part of a nationwide day of action, titled One Day Without Us, the New Economics Foundation has shown the impact this would also have on the economy.As part of One Day Without Us, some businesses have apparently closed their doors to highlight the huge loss £328 million loss, equal to 4%
  
  Read more

• Ukip canvasser caught urinating on voter's property in Stoke-on-Trent – video

  20-02-2017 15:18
  
  CCTV footage shows a man, who was canvassing for Ukip in the Stoke-on-Trent byelection, urinating on a voter’s property. The voter named by local newspaper the Sentinel as 73-year-old Marjorie Pinches can be seen and heard confronting the canvasser and telling him to leave. At this point the man apologises and tries to force his way into her home. The family, who posted the footage on social media, have handed the footage to the police. Ukip have apologised for what happened Merseyside Uki
  
  Read more

• Poll Hands Conservatives 18 Point Lead Over Labour Ahead Of By-Elections

  20-02-2017 15:15
  
  Theresa May’s Conservative Party has an eighteen point lead over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, according to a poll published today.
  The ICM survey for The Guardian showed the Tories on 44% with Labour trailing on 26%.
  According to the company, the Tories have only led Labour by more three times since 1983.
  The poll comes as all eyes in Westminster are on Thursday’s by-elections in Stoke and Copeland. Labour is hoping to retain both seats.
  The Conservatives fancy their chances in Cop
  
  Read more

• 'The UK is deluded': readers on the Brexit negotiations

  20-02-2017 14:58
  
  Readers respond as European politicians warn of the consequences of British attempts to “blackmail and divide” EU countriesIs Britain headed for a disastrous “crash landing” out of the European Union? This is the view of some European politicians concerned at the UK’s “divide and rule” tactics ahead of formal Brexit talks.A leaked European parliament report seen by the Guardian accuses Britain of trying to “move the goalposts and do away with the r
  
  Read more

• Neil McEvoy tribunal: Plaid conference clash sparks row

  20-02-2017 14:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Plaid Cymru AM's tribunal on the same day as his party's conference gives the appearance of political interference, the party's chief executive says.
  
  Read more

• A critical test for Corbyn’s Brexit strategy

  20-02-2017 14:51
  Loss of one or both seats in by-elections would raise doubts about approach
  
  Read more

• Pension changes could cost 11m Britons thousands of pounds

  20-02-2017 14:42
  
  Government green paper discusses giving annual rises based on CPI, not RPI, which could cost average of £20,000 over lifetimeCompanies could slash pension promises to 11 million employees, potentially knocking thousands of pounds off the incomes of people in retirement, if proposals in a government consultation paper are approved.Unions are likely to react furiously to the proposals, which would allow companies to save £90bn by providing annual increases in their retired employees&rs
  
  Read more

• Leading terror trial QC to be counter-terror laws watchdog

  20-02-2017 14:24
  
  Max Hill, who prosecuted in ricin conspiracy case and trial of 21 July 2005 bombers, replaces David AndersonMax Hill QC, a leading prosecutor in many of the most serious terrorism trials, has been named the new independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.He will replace the human rights lawyer David Anderson QC, who marked his upcoming departure this weekend with a warning that the government’s anti-radicalisation strategy Prevent is faltering because it is not trusted by “a very l
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!